The funerals of two murdered police women will be held on Tuesday in Belgium's eastern city of Liege where a suspected jihadist killed them along with a student, officials said.
Funeral ceremonies will be held at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) for Lucile Garcia and Soraya Belkacemi, who will be cremated afterwards at a service attended by family and friends, city police spokeswoman Jadranka Lozina told AFP.
"Our two colleagues will have official funerals, which will include the presence of a representative of the King, members of the government, local authorities and many police officers from all over Belgium," the spokeswoman said in a statement.
"Our colleagues will receive the Civic Cross, first class, for an act of courage and devotion to humanity -- the highest civilian decoration in Belgium."
Garcia, 54, had recently become a grandmother, while Soraya Belkacemi, 44, was a mother to 13-year-old twins.
Student Cyril Vangriecken, 22, shot dead in the passenger seat of a parked car, will be buried on Monday, Lozina added.
His bowls club will organise a march in his honour on Sunday.
The Islamic State group claimed one of its "soldiers" killed the three people, the jihadists' Amaq propaganda agency said.
IS said "he led the attack in response to calls to target the countries of the US-led international coalition," which is fighting the jihadist group, mainly in Syria.
Belgian investigators said the attacker identified as Benjamin Herman repeatedly stabbed the policewomen in Liege on Tuesday before using their own firearms to kill them.
The 31-year-old then shot dead a student sitting in a parked car in the centre of the industrial city, before entering a nearby school where he briefly took a female cleaner hostage.
In a separate investigation, police also suspect that Herman had killed a drug dealer just hours after getting temporary release from prison on Monday morning.
Belgian police have identified Herman as a drifter who spent a decade in and out of prison for acts of violence and petty crimes.
Prosecutors said his method of attack was a known "modus operandi" of IS, which claimed deadly attacks in Brussels in 2016.
Amateur footage obtained by AFP showed the gunman shouting "Allahu akbar" (Arabic for "God is greatest") as he walked through the streets during the rampage.
The funerals of two murdered police women will be held on Tuesday in Belgium’s eastern city of Liege where a suspected jihadist killed them along with a student, officials said.
Funeral ceremonies will be held at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) for Lucile Garcia and Soraya Belkacemi, who will be cremated afterwards at a service attended by family and friends, city police spokeswoman Jadranka Lozina told AFP.
“Our two colleagues will have official funerals, which will include the presence of a representative of the King, members of the government, local authorities and many police officers from all over Belgium,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.
“Our colleagues will receive the Civic Cross, first class, for an act of courage and devotion to humanity — the highest civilian decoration in Belgium.”
Garcia, 54, had recently become a grandmother, while Soraya Belkacemi, 44, was a mother to 13-year-old twins.
Student Cyril Vangriecken, 22, shot dead in the passenger seat of a parked car, will be buried on Monday, Lozina added.
His bowls club will organise a march in his honour on Sunday.
The Islamic State group claimed one of its “soldiers” killed the three people, the jihadists’ Amaq propaganda agency said.
IS said “he led the attack in response to calls to target the countries of the US-led international coalition,” which is fighting the jihadist group, mainly in Syria.
Belgian investigators said the attacker identified as Benjamin Herman repeatedly stabbed the policewomen in Liege on Tuesday before using their own firearms to kill them.
The 31-year-old then shot dead a student sitting in a parked car in the centre of the industrial city, before entering a nearby school where he briefly took a female cleaner hostage.
In a separate investigation, police also suspect that Herman had killed a drug dealer just hours after getting temporary release from prison on Monday morning.
Belgian police have identified Herman as a drifter who spent a decade in and out of prison for acts of violence and petty crimes.
Prosecutors said his method of attack was a known “modus operandi” of IS, which claimed deadly attacks in Brussels in 2016.
Amateur footage obtained by AFP showed the gunman shouting “Allahu akbar” (Arabic for “God is greatest”) as he walked through the streets during the rampage.
